Bad Weather??

[Emily128xx]

I have a 2 year old English Cocker Spaniel called Bonnie. She is very intelligent, and has no problem with anything or anyone. Except for sunny weather.
Yes, Bonnie hates warm weather!! Every time it's a nice sunny day, perfect for training, she tires quickly and appears very hot. Bonnie does have black fur, which attracts more sunlight??, and it's quite thick too. But even if we keep out of the sun, and have water breaks, she still is not too keen on warm weather. She would rather train out in the rain than in warm weather, and I'm not doing that again...

So does anyone have any idea how to keep her cool or possibly make her enjoy training in the sun?? I'm hoping to trial her in agility next year and I don't want her to slow down or possibly stop during the course.

 

[madeleine]

Uhm a cooling jacket could help out.
Maybe creating a less densh furr? I'm not a trimmer so don't know kwhrther that's even possible..
But black dogs may attrackt more sunlight, just by beeing black. Next to that that it's also just possible she just likes the cooler weathers, just like some dogs prefer warm sunlight

 

[MaryK]

I too have a mostly black dog and he also HATES the heat. Believe me it's EXTREMELY HOT here 37C in the shade yesterday and no breeze!. What Ra Kismet does is head for his 'plunge pool'. You could set one up using those plastic shell kiddies paddle pools, a friend of mine has one for her two black Labs, Ra Kismet uses what was once my lovely water feature, but as his health and well being is more important, I've allowed him to use it as a plunge pool.

You can also get on-line a Kool Collar http://www.fillmewithice.com/ They're also on eBay, so check there, the price may be better. They do work well.

Also train late after noon or early morning, or if you have outside lighting, train once the sun has gone down. That's what I have to do in this extreme heat. I too hate the heat, love the snow, so Ra Kismet and I have a lot in common.

I can really appreciate what you're going through, as Ra Kismet is also a rain lover, many times I've doned rain gear and trained in the pouring rain! He's smart too and normally loves to train, but with this heat, he's 'on strike' and will not co-operate unless we train after sun down!

 

[SD&B]

The heat is so natural that I don't even think about the things we do. We can hit summertime highs of 50C (125F), but that is not too often. Sundog and Barney are both black. Sundog has a natural tolerance and will play fetch or train in very hot weather, while Barney just doesn't care to do so. A lot of it has to do with the individual dog.

For cooling, we have used a cool coat (check out Ruffwear). Shade is nice or training when the sun is down (morning or evening). At agility shows, there is often a kiddie pool of water for dogs to lay in. Take frequent breaks and water the dog often. Some people use a sprayer (a bottle sprayer or a weed killer sprayer). Especially spray the belly and underside. And you can shave the dog down. I do that and it really helps. It helps a lot. If you don't want to mess up the dog's style, shaving the belly helps. Then you can wet the belly with the sprayer. Also, I would think a fan with a wet dog would help.

Have you thought about training inside? What kind of training are you doing? For agility, you can set up weave poles inside. Or a plank off the bed to practice contacts. For tricks, many tricks can be performed inside.

With Barney, I have to face that he won't do much training in the heat. You may want to maximize what little training you get, so have a plan and keep it really short and sweet.